Tufting machine looper and cutter



May 16, 1933. M, GLADISH 1,909,530

TUFTING MACHINE LOOPER AND CUTTER Filed Oct. 2, 1929 INVEN OR 30 Fig. 7 is a section on the line of 7'-7 of.

Fig. 10.

. Patented any 16.1933

their engagement with a substantially heavy cutting-the strand with theneedle above the UNWET stares i? AT JGHN lr'IllLTQN GLADISH, F LAGRAN GEORGIA, ASSEGNOR TC) VALWAY RUG- MTLLS,

-- moonronarrm; or LAGRANGE, enonere, e oonronarron' or eno-nera rnrrnte 'rraonnn'n roornn Ann en rrnn Applieation filed October a I ting mechanism for tufting machines and has for its object to increase the speed of operation of such machines thereby increasing their productivity and worth.

A further object is to reduce the likelihood of bending and breaking needles from or rigid looper as has heretofore been the practice and also to reduce. the likelihood of not itorming a tuft for .each stroke of the needle.

Referring to the drawing, Fig. 1 shows the relativeposition of the looper. and needle as the needle is moving downward.

Fig. 2 shows the needle near the end of its downward stroke. 1

Fig. 3 shows the engagement of the looper between the needle and strand, the needle moving upwardly. v I

Fig. t shows the position of the looper for work. I v Fig. 5 is a left end view with the needle and looper 1n the position illustrated in Fig.

j struction of the looper. and its mounting.

Fig.6 shows a specimen of the work with some of the tufts out and othersnot out, the tufts being longer than is' customary. for the sake of clearness of illustration;

Fig. .8 is a section on theline of 8' 8'of Fig.10. i

' Fig. Sis atop plan view of the looper in the position shown in Fig. 3. 9 I Fig. 10 is a detail view showing the con.-

-The. needle 12 is provided with theusual eye 13- through which the strand 14 is passed and the needle also hasa recessed and fiattened portion'15' to enable the loop forming means or looper 16 to engage between the a loop as the needle rises. The needle is op- Thewor k is fed through-the machine by any suitable type feed mechanism, not shown.

' Unlike previous tufting machines the present invention contemplates a looper 16 which of the needle. v

' Fig. 6 shows uncut loops 19 as well as cut 1192a Serial 1%. seems.

is yieldably mounted and is comparatively thin., "lln fact the looper 16in practice is made from a portion of a flexible safety razor blade and formed into the shape illustrated.

The combined looper and cutter is soldered to the support 23a without drawing the temper in the cutter. The blade 16 is formed by breaking or cutting a'flexible razor blade cutting edge and then dulling a portion of into tourpartseach provided with a sharp:

the edge to form the looper and shaping the blade to the form shown. @n account of its flexibility it is desirable to provide stationary guides'll between which'the looper passes adj acent the needle These guides are supported from some con- 1 venient stationary portion of the machine.

In Fig. 2the looper 16 is about'to engage the strand and needle while in Fig. 3 the loop: er has engaged the strand and the needle is moving upwardly. In this position the looper preferably holds the strand until the-needle passes above the work, thelongitudinalmotion of the looper being preferably arrested for an interval sufiicient to permit the needle to clear the goods. The portion of the looper engaging the strand in Fig.3 has a-dull un- Y der edge, as shown in Fig. -7. Immediately back of this looper portion the under edge of the flexible member is sharpened as shown On moving the looper further into the strand as shown in Fig. 4the sharpened lower edge of Fig. Bengages the strand and cuts it. Subsequently the looper is retracted to the position shown in Fig. 1 ready forreengagement with the needle and strand on the next descent loops 20-extending fromthework 18. The loops shown by Fig.

invention in' which the slidable lever 21 supports the looper and cutter through the post 23. The portion of the looper and cutter in 1 back of the cutting edge is provided with one in Fig. 8 to constitute a cutter for the strand.

I to 6. are somewhat larger than would becustomary in order to Y or more serrations 22 for the purpose-of sired.

withdrawing any lint from between the guides 17. As shown in Fig. 10, the head 23a mounted on the post 23 has the flexible looper and' cutter secured thereto in some convenient manner as for example, bg soldering to the flat face of the head 23a. y controlling the extent of movement of the combined looper and cutter intothe strand, this element may be efiective to cutor not-cut the loops as de- When forming uncut loops the looper need only engage the-strand and not pull it down substantially, since the upward travel of the needle holds the strand tight enough to form uniform length of tufts. For engaging the sharp edge of the looper and cutting the tufts,

looper and cutter which comprises dividing a flexible razor blade, dulling a portion of an edge to form a looper and securing said divided partof the razor blade to a support, all of said operations being performed without dulling portion. p

2. The method of makinga tufting ma? chine flexible looper which comprises dividing a flexible razor blade, rounding an end andat least a portion of an edge adj acent'said end and securing said blade portion'toa support for attachment to a tufting machine.

' JOHN MILTON GLADTSH.

, moved rearwardly with respect to the looper 1 of the tufts.

to engage the sharp cutting edge.

As shown in Fig. 5 the eye 13 of the needle 12 is in substantial alignment with the stitching. None of the usual strand gripping means are as necessary as has been the case heretofore. although if desired, some customary type of such strand gripping means may be employed as a means of more certain 1y insuring precise uniformity in the length Any customary type work sup port not shown may be provided.

The flexibility of the looper does not endanger breaking the needle, in fact the looper may strike the needle 'without danger since it is deflected without harm; The combined looper and cutter in the present invention are more compact than any prior combination of looperand cutter. There are several functions for the combined looper and cutter of this invention. It acts as a loop retainer to hold the strand during the upward travel of the needle. It may or may not cut the strand. It takes out lint from between the guides. lit flexes and can bend aside when it strikes the needle. It makes the use of strand grippers less necessary to tuft lengtlfnniformity although such maybe used if desired.

The-operating units described, may be used together in any desirable number.

. This application isa continuation in part of my prlor application Serial No. 290,977 filed July7th,1928.-

Tclaim: 1. The method of ma s 1-: g I a combined or drawing the temper of the cutter 

